Mickey Kendall shows off some of her wares.
For those who haven't stopped in recently, the Willapa Bay Public Market in Raymond has seen significant changes since the current team of operators took over last April from retired long-time market head Carol Dunsmoor.
The current group consists of President Mickey Kendall, Vice President Charlene Needham, and Secretary/Treasurer Roz Pousette.
"When there was no one else stepping forward, the three of us decided we could do it," said Kendall. "How hard could it be? Well, it was a lot harder than we thought, going through all the legalities and permits and that kind of thing. But we've got that down. We have new vendors. We have new customers, which is nice."
The present season is a slow time for the market, but it remains open year-round, with the exception of a three-week period toward the end of the Christmas season during which its temporarily closed before starting back up in mid-January.
"We're primarily a public market," Kendall explained, "but we're also a farmers market. The difference is the public market, as you see, is a building that is here year-round, and we can keep things in it year-round. Farmers markets generally open up in a parking lot or whatever for a day or a weekend. We're considered a farmers market because we do produce and we follow the farmers market rules of the state."
Currently, the market maintains about 28 individual vendors who produce work ranging from jewelry and collectibles to clothing, glass work, and woodcrafts. Pousette explained that vendors sell their work on consignment, mostly on an absentee basis.
"They come in and talk to us and tell us what they want to sell and we give them the details of being on consignment versus being here," Pousette said of how one can get started selling items. "They have the option of being here and getting a lower percentage taken out of their check."
"We like the new vendors to bring their product in so we can look at it," added Kendall.
The pair said they haven't turned anybody away in the time they've been operating the market, though they do reserve the right to decline items that would generally be considered offensive by the public.
Maintaining a diversity of items on offer is also important, Kendall and Pousette indicated. They said they don't want to see too many of the same kinds of items on offer, noting they already have a handful of vendors selling jewelry, for example.
"We might ask them if they can do something different," said Pousette.
"We don't want to have too many vendors doing the same thing," Kendall agreed.
As for her own work, Kendall, a transplant from Oregon who has been in the area about nine years, is focused on knitting and crochet work, with blankets, shawls, and similar pieces on offer. Somewhat incongruously, she also sells guns that fire marshmallows, which are made by her husband.
"I can't read a pattern very well, so I look at something and then I work at it until I get it kind of the way I think it should look," Kendall admitted of her unique designs.
Pousette, who came to the area from California in 2001, makes handcrafted jewelry utilizing semi-precious stones and beads. She said she's been creating jewelry for over a decade and sources most of her material from the internet and Shipwreck Beads in Lacey.
For her part, Charlene Needham creates intricate figures and ornaments through wool felting, a process in which wool is manipulated using needles.
"She is an artist," Kendall said of the high quality of Needham's work.
The market's current hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Beginning in about June, the market will also be open on Thursdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. in order to give local farmers more time to sell produce.
A selection of used books is available at the market for purchase for one or two dollars per book, and the market also now accepts credit cards, which the trio said has increased sales.
"We're proud of what we've done since April. ... People like what we've done, and we're happy with it," Kendall concluded.